Battle Sister Squad

"All but the faithful shall perish"

The holy avengers of the Emperor's glory, Battle Sisters cause dread in the souls of sinners across the vast galaxy. Highly trained and adaptable to the changing conditions of the battlefield, the Battle Sisters have access to a broad range of weapon upgrades and are more than a match for any Infantry and Heavy Infantry units that dares stand against them.

Tactics

Battle Sister Squads are a vital part of any Sisters of Battle force at all levels. While not as strong as comparable infantry, Battle Sisters even the odds by breaking enemy morale or using Acts of Faith. With Flamers and Phosphor Grenades Battle Sisters can quickly devastate enemy morale. To ensure that Battle Sisters morale does not break (thereby returning the advantage to the enemy), make use of the Seraphim Squad's Angelic Visage ability and Laud Hailers from buildings and Rhino Transports.

In Tier 1 building a Pristine Sanctuary to access Flamers is essential. Missionaries are the ideal accompaniment to a Battle Sisters squad, as they will no longer be able to be independently targeted and can provide healing with Lay Hands. Against melee units be sure to dance your Battle Sisters and break their morale before they can engage.

In Tier 2 Battle Sisters can be used for early anti-vehicle attacks if an attached Missionary uses Emperor's Touch. They also gain access to both Heavy Bolters and an increase in Heavy Weaponry. Generally you should have more squads with Flamers than Heavy Bolters, with no mixing in a squad due to the vastly different nature of the two weapons. Battle Sisters lacking an accompanying Missionary are a good choice for Heavy Bolters, as their reduced survivability requires them to be kept further from the battle. Battle Sisters, however, fully equipped with Flamers makes them the fastest means to instantly demoralize enemies. Bear this in mind because the Sisters of Battle specialize more in breaking and restoring morale in comparison to other races.

In Tier 3 and beyond Battle Sisters become less important as Sister Repentia Squads and Immolators usurp their roles as front line infantry and morale breakers, respectively. They remain useful and by no means should be fazed out, but they cannot be relied on as the main body of your force like the more versatile Space Marine Squads can.

If a heavy weapon upgrade is started and then Emperor's Touch is used on the squad before the weapon upgrade is complete, the added heavy weapon will be removed once the Emperor's Touch ability ends. This also permanently lowers the maximum number of heavy weapon upgrades. Using Emperor's Touch again will reset the counter and allow the heavy weapon to be added.

When engaging massed enemy units, a Battle Sister squad using Acts of Faith: Emperor's Touch may attack a little bit from behind allied units as Emperor's Touch itself has medium range. Use this to prevent that specific Battle Sister squad from being targeted by enemies and killing them before the Emperor's Touch pays off. You may also use this tactic with a Battle Sister squad upgraded with Heavy Bolters and use Sister Repentia squads with Divine Retribution to ensure their safety and all-out damage output.